The Naruto live-action film has reportedly discovered its author. As per Variety, Tasha Huo, finest recognized for Netflix’s The Witcher: Blood Origin and the upcoming Tomb Raider animated present, will function the scribe for the Naruto adaptation. Development on the movie has been in limbo for years at Lionsgate, and this might mark the primary official replace since director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) took on the challenge in 2015. It appears as if the success of Netflix’s One Piece has triggered a number of deserted anime to live-action adaptation initiatives to be revived, as a way to money in on the Japanese medium’s reputation, whereas introducing these tales to informal audiences.
Huo was famous by Variety as one of many prime screenwriters to be looking out for in 2023, having written a script for Marvel’s Red Sonja, a sword-bearing barbarian warrior who leads a gaggle of unlikely allies on a quest to free themselves from enslavement by an evil tyrant. “Adapting iconic characters or IP makes the writing of it easier because the passion for writing it is already there,” she stated, claiming that it is a good means to discover human tales. “I’m so inspired by these characters already that it’s exciting to just take a part of their journey and try to tell that fun story in a way that would appeal to me as a fan.” No different particulars have been revealed, however the truth that it is nonetheless in improvement is an enormous replace.
Created by acclaimed mangaka Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto is just about a family identify in Shonen anime, simply on par with epics like Dragon Ball Z and the aforementioned One Piece — each of which have acquired live-action Hollywood therapy. 2009’s Dragon Ball: Evolution was a dud, alongside Adam Wingard’s Death Note and the Scarlett Johansson-led Ghost within the Shell, which fully diverted from the core themes and plot. Not to point out, the lead roles have been largely performed by Caucasian actors as a substitute of Japanese. Clearly, Hollywood would not have an awesome observe document with such diversifications, however Netflix’s One Piece, which already has a second season in improvement, is a glimmer of hope that it’s an achievable commonplace.
Naruto centres across the titular teenage shinobi Naruto Uzumaki, an orphan who’s shunned by the village people after an age-old disaster causes the spirit of a demonic fox to be sealed inside him. Aspiring to be the Hokage (village chief), he embarks on a coming-of-age journey, making new pals, barely passing ninja exams, and battling a twisted scientist who can shapeshift right into a serpent. The anime adaptation partly owes its reputation within the Western realm to Toonami, an anime so sprawling that it had to be cut up into two halves — Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, with the latter being set two-and-a-half years after, as our younger shinobi returns from coaching together with his lecherous Sannin mentor Jiraiya.
It’s unclear how the live-action adaptation would condense the primary half’s arc right into a feature-length movie until Lionsgate already has sequels deliberate. The One Piece collection was based mostly merely on the East Blue Saga, however the character improvement by no means felt rushed as a result of it was stretched throughout 10 episodes.
Currently, there isn’t a launch window for the Naruto live-action film.
